Kalista: Forgotten Tamer
by RainbowSerenity
Summary: [Being worked on, I swear!]Fourth in the 'Tamer' series. In the Tamers' ultimate battle of light and dark, will Kalista succumb to the darkness within her, or find her destiny in the light of the Dragons?
1. Prologue: Finding Them

Hey everyone, and welcome to my little corner of madness. If you are new to my 'Tamer' fics, welcome, welcome! –gives newcomers pie- This is the fourth in a series of fics about the Tamer family. They all sort of flow together, so if you have a lot of time, I would highly suggest you read the first three (and review them ;P), but if you don't, at least read _Lindsey: Tamer's Prophecy _since that fic is a major prelude to this one, and you probably won't understand a thing in this fic unless you read _Lindsey._

To my regular readers: HI! –glomps- Finally, yes, here is the fourth Tamer ficanoid. Oi, this one's gonna be freaky. Y'all wait and see.

I'll try and update this regularly, like I did weekly with Lindsey, but I don't know if that's going to happen here. I've been loaded down with tons of homework and whatnot, and it's really taking a toll on me. So we'll see. :P

Haha, wow, this is the longest prologue I've ever done...freaky. Hmm, well, kick back, relax, and enjoy it! Here, finally, is...

**Kalista: Forgotten Tamer**

**Prologue**

Silence echoed on the crystal walls of the Dragon Den. That is, until several Dratinis and Dragonairs shot up from the large pool in the room, splashing glittering water in every direction. Some the Dragonairs proceeded to fly around the room, while the Dratinis slipped and slid around on the watery floor.

Hidden behind these Dragon Pokemon was a woman—the only thing that separated her from the Dragons themselves was her long, waist-length brown/black hair; otherwise, she was as close to looking like a Dragon as they come.

She rose to the surface, spilling that long hair behind her like dark waterfall. She gracefully swam the to edge of the pool and folded her thin arms on the side, resting her chin on them. Her eye caught the worn hospital bracelet around her wrist.

"They're thirteen today," she whispered to a Dratini that had come up beside her. Though she wouldn't admit, Mystical was her favorite of all the Dragons that resided in the Den. She always seemed to know when her Tamer needed her...especially today.

"Dra?" Mystical asked, cocking her head.

"Thirteen years...Mystical, how much longer am I going to hide down here?" the Tamer said, her turquoise eyes filling with tears. "At this rate, I'm never going to get to see them. Though it's probably just as well...it would be worth it to keep them from a fate like this."

She didn't wait for a reply from the Dratini and instead let go of the edge of the pool and sank to the bottom. She wished she could just sit there and drown, but that was impossible for a Tamer who had been blessed with the power to breathe underwater. After a minute, she heard cries from Mystical. Rolling her eyes, she once again surfaced and found herself face-to-face with an Espeon.

"Kitsune," she sighed, staring at the envelope in the Psychic Pokemon's mouth. "God, when is Steve going to take the hint?" she grumbled, taking the paper. Kit then proceeded to chase around some of the Dratini, enjoying a game he never seemed to get tired of. The Tamer smiled slightly at the scene, and gently opened the envelope, reading the letter enclosed and rolling her eyes every few sentences:

_Lindsey,_

_How are you down there, being a recluse? Quit rolling your eyes at me. I know I say this in practically every note I write to you, but you've got to come out of there. Destiny or not, you're going crazy being cooped up! C'mon, I know you better than _anyone_, but even anyone would say it isn't right for someone like you to just stay down there and mope about what happened so many years ago._

_Anyway, enough of that. Ivy and I are doing good, well, as good as we can be without you up here. Ivy received some sort of award for discovering those new Pokemon attacks or something. I wouldn't know; I was asleep half of the time during the ceremony. Yeah, yeah, I know, but it was just _so _boring. How she can endure hours and hours of long speeches is beyond me—then again, they were about her, so that's probably how. _

_Okay, and now for the hard part of this...I've been searching every spare moment I can get, and I still can't find them. Are you sure you told that agency they could contact you anytime? I mean, they're what—practically teenagers by now, right? Wouldn't they be a _little _curious about their mother? _

_Well, either way, no matter where or which way I search, I can't seem to locate them. Which is pretty weird, considering...well, you know. They're definitely not in Johto, that's for sure...which means the search will have to go on to Kanto and Hoenn. I really don't know why I'm breaking my back looking for them for you when they could just contact you on their own when they're ready—and _you _decided to let them go and become a recluse. But you know, that's what friends do, Lindsey. They're there for each other; they just don't up and decide to leave one day because they can't handle the fact that they don't think they can beat destiny. Geez, what _happened _to you? Is that Den really such a saint? In every letter you actually reply back to, you seem so depressed and worn—don't you want to get away from that? When's the last time you actually saw a Pokemon other than Kit and the Dragons? And have you realized since you've been down there that a Tamer is now_ pointless_, considering the full Hunter clan has basically died out?_

_I'll quit preaching you now, but just to let you know, I haven't stopped thinking about you for a second since you left. I know you said it's impossible for us to ever be together like that, but you've just got to believe you can defy fate...not just in that way, but in others too. I'm sick of not being able to see you every day and talk to you like a normal person. Until then, though, I'll keep looking for them. For you, Lindsey...only for you._

_Love, Steve_

Lindsey crumbled the note into a ball and threw it in some random direction, narrowly missing one of the Dragonairs. Steve had no idea what he was talking about. Like she cared what he thought. Like she cared at all. All she really wanted to know was whether or not he had found them—and in every letter came disappointment.

Ten years he had been searching, ever since Lindsey had secluded herself to the Den. Her parents didn't care whatsoever, which was very strange of them; what wasn't weird was their undying devotion to caring for their Rapidashes. It sometimes seemed that they cared for the Fire Pokemon more than their own daughter.

Not Lindsey. If she could choose between the Den and her children, in an instant she would choose her children.

_'But didn't you do exactly the opposite of that thirteen years ago?' _a bitter voice in her head said, and she knew it was true. Instead of staying with them, raising them, caring for them like any other mother would, she had let them go and wallowed in her misery in the Den practically ever since.

She thought about them every single day. She wondered what kind of people they were, if they were more like her than their father, or vice versa. Her children, her twins...

What she really thought of most of all, though, was how their father might affect the very outcome of their lives. He was a Hunter...sworn lifetime enemy of the Tamers, the very people that even caused the need for a Tamer in the first place. And she...Lindsey herself was the Chosen Tamer, the very once they had been looking for. She was a beauty, the perfection that the Dragons of the Den could only dream of.

Though it was forbidden, the Tamer and Hunter had fallen in love—it was love that could never be broken, for a Tamer is bound to her heart's first desire. When Lindsey learned what her true legacy was, though, it was found to be a love that should have never happened in the first place. The Hunter, Darrell Hunter, was killed by the very hands of the woman that had unknowingly pledge her heart—and herself—to him.

Later, she had given birth to what she would assume would be a single baby girl; as that's what all Tamer women had had for generations, to guarantee a new Tamer would be brought forth. Instead, she was surprised with twins—a boy and a girl.

Never before had there been a boy born since the Tamer Legacy had ensued. Lindsey often wondered if it was because she had given herself to a Hunter that this had happened—and not only were they twins, but they each had two different colored eyes: the left one brown, and the right one blue. Each one of the same colors as their parents' eyes.

The eyes were what really convinced Lindsey to let them go. It was as if...well, as if it was true: a Hunter and Tamer could never truly belong together...and even though she had tried, her twins were the result of a love that was never supposed to be. She had no idea what the Dragon Laws, the Tamer's Prophecy, or even the Den itself had planned for such forbidden children...so she had decided to spare them.

Lindsey suddenly got up out of the pool, her dress swirling around her body, and walked into the only room that the Dragons never entered; her private living space. She sat on her bed, ripped a piece of paper off of a notepad, and chewed the end of a pen she had found.

She _had _to find them. She was going absolutely insane not knowing where fate might take them, constantly wondering if she had done the right thing. Or was it all some horrible mistake?

Taking a deep breath, Lindsey began to write a letter—having no idea the trouble and pain it was going to end up costing her and her children themselves:

_Hey Steve..._

-o-

Yes, I cut it off there. Why? Because I can. :P Like I said in the above A/N, I'm not sure when the next update will be...so keep checking back!

And thank you to everyone who reviewed the epilogue of _Lindsey_!!! You guys kick ass! Now everyone review this, or no pie for you! :P


	2. Chapter One: Mystery Tattoo

WOAH DUDES! AN UPDATE! How weird indeed...

Progress with this fic is soooooo veeeeeeery sloooooow, and it's driving me crazier than normal. No time to write! Especially now that RS has magically gotten herself somewhat of a life. Heh heh.

Oh yeah, it was my birthday on the 30th. Gimmie cake XD. I keed, I keed. Sorta. Mmmm, cake. Sugar sounds REALLY good right now...

Alrighty, so here is the first official chapter of _Kalista_! Aren't you all excited? ;P

**I will warn you now: **If I could rate this fic anything, it would be a PG-16 (that's right, sixteen) if there was such a thing. Excessive cursing and adult situations will be in this fic. You have been warned!

Now read, my minions!****

**Chapter One**

"How could you _DO_ this?!"

Because Donna had the supplies and is a good artist, that's how.

"You're only _thirteen!"_

Duh. I know how to count.

"So did everyone at this so-called 'birthday party' go as..._insane _as you did, or were you the only one at this little shenanigan?!"

It _was _my birthday party. It's not my fault Todd flushed Donna's real birthday present to me down the toilet. A sixty-dollar gift certificate to Dark Pokemon 'Dise, only the coolest store in all of Hoenn? Rustburo's gonna be overflowing in sewage tomorrow.

"Kalista Lynn Merta, _ANSWER ME!_"

"Ma, hold your Ponytas," I sighed, rolling my right eye. I long ago taught myself how to do that—roll one eye in boredom while the other looks 'attentive'. No matter how often I do it, it never fails to freak Ma out. Which is understandable, given the circumstances. People are freaked out alone just by the damn color of those suckers.

But like I predicted, Ma winced when I performed my one-eye roll, and sighed angrily. "Kalista, you're _thirteen!_ How could you have even _gotten _a tattoo?!"

I held out my right arm, smiling to myself. It still hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it. I wondered what Chase would say about it. Probably nothing. As usual.

"Well," I began. "We were having this blowout at Donna's, right? And then the lights went out and these symbols magically appeared on my arm! It must be a sign! I've got to get out and find out what they mean!"

"Young lady," Ma warned, giving me 'the Look'. Ugh. The _Look_. It meant only one thing...

"You're grounded!" I mouthed as she yelled the words.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied, stomping my pointy platform boots and me upstairs to the room Chase and I shared, and slammed the door. I flopped face-first onto my bed, forgetting that I had just had a needle poked into my skin dozens of times a few hours ago. I hissed in pain as my upper arm hit the comforter.

"'Comfort'-er my ass," I muttered, lifting my right arm up and just leaving it there floating for awhile. Damn, Donna never said such a cool-looking piece of work would come with this much freaking pain.

I turned my head to the side a bit, glancing at my floating arm. The newly-inked symbols into my skin seemed to glimmer...if that was possible. I thought back to the 'party' (if you call me and Donna a 'party') just hours before, when Donna had even had the thing done to me...

-----

"I cannot freaking _believe _Todd flushed your present down the toilet!" Donna, my soul sister, complained, stomping in her clunky combat boots. That's right, she was my soul sister. We were never 'best friends'...that was the most overused term on the planet or something. Donna would never be my 'best' friend anyway, considering how much shit she puts me through.

I shrugged, pushing some strands of hair behind my ear. "What can you do? Little brothers suck."

Donna glared at me with her dark brown eyes—though they seemed black with the amount of eyeliner she had on today. "Do _not _even go there," she growled. "You're the baby of the family! So how would you even know?!"

I shrugged again, pushing up the sleeves of my black shirt. The zillions of black rubber bracelets I was wearing could finally show. "Who knows? Maybe somewhere out there I have some younger siblings. Or maybe I was born before Chase." I suddenly burst out laughing. "Would that be freaking hilarious?! I mean, Chase is _constantly _acting like he's _years _older than me or whatever, and I might have been born before him!"

Donna also laughed, but it seemed a lot more forced than mine was. She always seemed uncomfortable talking about the fact that I was adopted—a.k.a., I had no clue whatsoever what my real parents were like. Ma never said if she knew them or not, and wouldn't even tell me if she knew their names, claiming I wasn't 'old enough'. Dad wasn't even around all that much—he's the vice-president of Devon Corporation, so he's at the office all the time. Not that I cared; we didn't have much in common. I'm not one to get alone with people who wear suits twenty-four-seven. And Chase—geez, it was like he and I were actually born to these people we call our 'parents'. All he ever does is hide in closets and mooch off the darkness or something.

"So what's my replacement present, biatch?" I joked, throwing a pen at her. It flew near her hair, and she literally growled at me.

"Watch the hair! It took me three hours to do it this morning!" She suddenly smiled slyly. "It's not going to come out for a _week! _Mom's gonna blow a gasket!" Her grin grew wider.

I had no doubt about that. Donna's dark brown hair was currently spiked in spokes about three inches high all over her head, with the rest of her shoulder blade-length hair tied securely against her head where the rest of it just flowed down—dyed completely green.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, rolling my eyes. Both of them, that time. Donna plopped on the couch next to me and propped a foot on the coffee table. I regrabbed the pen I had just chucked at her and started doodling on a piece of paper that was on the table.

"Dang, now I have no gift for your big one-three," Donna apologized, sighing. "I'm going to kill Todd. Seriously. Is there anything that you want, short of my green hair dye?"

Damn.

"What are you drawing anyway?" she asked, sliding her foot off the table and hunching forward to see the paper. I was tempted to hide it—Donna's only a year old than me, but she's an incredible artist—she makes extra cash by drawing and painting portraits of people's Pokemon, and that's the reason she can afford that hair dye and those combat boots. I just constantly scribble, is all.

Before I could hide my doodle, Donna grabbed it from me and stared at it, raising an eyebrow. "Uhh...what is this? Some secret language?"

I snatched the paper back. "No...I think. I've just been drawing it every time I get a pen or whatever in my hands for awhile. I guess it could be a language or something, but..." I squinted at the letters. "Can _you _see any letters in that?"

"Nope," she answered a little too quickly, and we laughed.

"It does feel like it's important though," I confessed. "Plus, they look really, really cool, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Donna admitted. "Put in line, they'd make quite the attractive border...hey!" she suddenly cried, putting her purple-glossed lips into a grin.

"What?"

"I just thought of the perfect birthday present for you!"

"Your combat boots?"

"No," she growled again. "I was thinking more along the lines of a tattoo."

My right eye widened—just that one—for some odd reason. "Hell yeah! That'd be great...but there are two problems: one, um, _HOW?_! And two: I'm not even OLD enough!"

Donna snickered. "You really think I'd let that stop me?" She grabbed the pen from me and twirled it in her fingers. "I could tattoo these symbols on your arm if you want. Even if they really don't mean anything, they still look pretty kick ass."

She was right there. "Sure, but how would you do it?"

She grabbed my right arm and the paper I had drawn the symbols on, and started carefully etching them out onto my skin. "Actually, I've seen Matt's friends do this a zillion times," she said, sounding confident. Since when did she spy on her older brother? "You just need a needle and some ink...it'll hurt," she warned.

"My pain be damned," I snorted, holding out my arm some more. "Ink me, baby!"

-----

And obviously, she did it. The symbols were circled around my upper right arm, in their black-inked glory. I got up and stared at the design in my mirror, also poking my hair while I was at it. I have styled my brown/black hair the exact same way since I had discovered the hair gel in my older brother Jeff's room—pointed up on either side of my head with some free strands curling around my face. Jeff—aw heck, all four of my brothers, Chase included—made fun of it _forever _when I first did the 'do, calling them 'Meowth ears'.

Which, really, was what I was going for. But of course I wasn't going to let them know that.

Since it's been so many years, they've finally let up on the insults. Not that I ever really cared—what they say doesn't mean anything to me. The only brother who I can really call my bro is Chase. 'Pretty Boy' Jeff, 'Pokemon Nerd' David, and 'The Master' Eric have always been, to me, just people I am forced to share my life with.

Not that I've ever really wanted to share my life with anyone. Well, except Chase, but he was my twin, so that didn't really count. No...I've always wanted to get out of Rustburo City, to get away from Hoenn and travel...all my life I've felt like there was something big out there waiting for me.

I actually attempted to become a Pokemon trainer or master, or whatever the heck you want to call it, when I turned ten, but before I could set foot out of the house to grab a Pokemon and get the hell outta there, Ma caught me. She's deathly afraid of letting anyone travel and train—just because Eric was nearly killed in an accident seven years ago when _he _was ten. I don't know what it was all about; something along the lines of Krabbies grabbing his Torchic underwater and him diving in after it.

But ever since the day Officer Jenny brought Eric home, sopping wet and practically dead, Ma banned any of us from traveling until we were 'of age'. Which could mean twenty or twenty freaking hundred.

Eric still had the Torchic though. It lived in the backyard in a pen like a damn Growlithe.

I sighed, flopping angrily backwards onto my bed. I wondered where Chase was. After all, it was _his _birthday too. He couldn't really be out celebrating—and he wouldn't be if he knew Ma had grounded on our big one-three. Besides, he doesn't really have many friends to celebrate _with. _

It's been like that for as long as I can remember. Neither of us had many close friends, and Chase and I...well, we had each other, but we didn't. He was extremely protective of me and always made sure I got the best of anything, but most of the time, he would just go hide in closets or just disappear for hours at a time, not telling a soul where he was going, which of course, worried Ma sick. He always seemed to know when I needed him, though. Probably that weird twin connection thing.

"Yeah, you tell Ma," I muttered to the ceiling. "Who gets grounded on their birthday?"

Just then, I heard the front door on the first floor slam shut. At first I assumed it was Jeff, home from his weekend-long surfing trip. Yes, not only is Jeff the 'pretty boy' of Rustburo, but he's also a surfer. He wants to travel to Kanto one day and surf that giant wave that Viktor dude in Kanto did or whatever.

I realized it wasn't my idiot second-oldest brother, though, when I didn't hear him asking where the burritos were. That's what he does every single freaking time he comes home; yells at Ma for some burritos. He's overly obsessed with the stuff.

Instead, I heard silence, and then a heavy clunking up the stairs. I smiled to myself. Who else could it be but...

"Hey loser," I greeted once Chase opened the door to our room. I sat up and saw him raising an eyebrow.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, taking a rather large black box and gently laying it on his bed. "I thought you were over at Donna's."

"I was," I said, inconspicuously flashing my right arm at him. "But the, uh, 'party' got broken up..."

"You two were the only ones there, huh?" he snorted, shaking his head. If he didn't lay on the gel, his hair would've shook with him, but he spikes it every morning. It's crazier than my Meowth-eared look. "Geez, Kally. And you're constantly going on like you're the most popular girl in school or something. Give it up."

"And give up calling me Kally," I growled, getting up and kicking him in the leg with my pointy boot. He certainly wore his baggy black pants right; the kick didn't seem to affect him at all.

I glanced down at the box on his bed. "What's that?"

He was looking at my arm. "What the hell?"

I snorted. "I asked first."

"Ladies first."

I growled. "It's _on _later." I turned so my tattooed arm was facing him. He raised his eyebrows a bit.

"Isn't that those scribbles you're always doodling?"

I nodded. "Donna got me some gift certificate, but Todd flushed it, so she tattooed me with them instead. Kick ass, huh?"

"What'd Ma say?"

"She flipped out, forgot it was my birthday, and grounded me."

"Typical. But I'm surprised at you—you're never one to give in to the system."

"Shut up and tell me what's in the damn box already."

"Fine, fine." He carefully opened the box like his life depended on it and we both peered inside. My mouth fell open.

"A _guitar_?! How'd you get your hands on _that?!"_

"Birthday present. Derek down at that music warehouse snagged it for me. He wants me to start a band."

I raised my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"You don't even know how to _play _that thing."

Chase gently took the instrument from the box and held it, though I had no clue if it was the right way or not, and actually played a recognizable tune. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, so you _do _know how to play it."

He shrugged and stood up, carrying it and himself over to the closet, where I knew he was going to sit and probably play that thing for hours. "Well, yeah, I gotta know how to play it if I want to start this band I'm supposedly going to have to start."

I shook my head as the closet door shut, kicking off my pointy boots since, really, where was I going to go? I heard Chase faintly start to play and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Ma is going to _kill _you."

---

Bow down to my awesomeness. Not.

REVIEW REPLIES CAUSE I'M REALLY HAPPY AND LOVE YOU ALL!

Robin Ryan—Heh heh, hey, cliffhangers are my specialty! You should know that by now. ;P And that DOES sound like a Plan. Bwhaha. Thanks again for the awesome drawing! :D And no dissing Danny. I wuff him. :P

Hazy Aurora—Yep, that's Lindsey for you...-sigh- My girls are so silly. Sooo...silly...wow, I need sleep. Heeere's an update!

Rose—CHOCOLATE! –pounces chocolate and starts to gorge-  
Magnificence? Uhhh...riiiight. ;) Actually, I'm also starting to wonder how she gets food...I remember back in _Lindsey _Steve mentioned the lack of mini-fridge in the bedroom-type room in the Den...hrmmm. One of the mysteries of fanfiction.

Emerald Milotic—Nahh, I wouldn't throw pie at you. ;) Welcome to my madness! FWEE, I GOT ANOTHER READER! I'M SO COOL! XD Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you'll continue reading!

Adriel—Yep, yep, I made it, and I can't get out! –dies- Har har. And hush...that was, uh...a test. To see if anyone noticed. Yeah. You get the golden Oreo pie!  
Actually, I WOULD ask you to proofread THIS chapter, but you're not online, so that's out of the question. ;)  
Lately though, it's not the homework, it's the time and quiet I need to write. Plus the fact I have horrible writers block at the moment. Grraaaaaaarl. Meh.

Hakura0—Hey, there's no time limit on reviews! :D And aackk...I did write that, didn't I? –hides- EEEEK! IT'S CRAZY! THE REVIEWERS! THEY'VE GOT ME over-

ZeroChan—CHOCOLATE! –drool- Yes, my poor, poor Lindsey. She's gone through more crap than any of my characters. –sob- But is it meant to be, well, we shall soon see...-evil grin-

Almighty DB—PIE! –glomps all pies- r0ck 0n l33t!

Katie-- -gasp- And you're only now reviewing? For shame! Hehehe, I kid, I kid. ;) Thanks for reviewing this one! Wow, you sure know how to compliment. –blush- Believe me, if there was some way you could make a living writing fanfiction, I'd totally do it.

Kat—WASSUP KAT! XD –hands you pie- YAY PIE!

And don't even TRY to deny Fanning the Flames wasn't at least CUTE! C'moooon...

Kirin RaKash—I hope that's 'interesting' in a good way! –sweatdrop- Thanks for reviewing!

LoneHowl—Hey, pie is pie. So bring it on! –evil grin-

Dudes, I feel SOOOO loved right now, you have no idea! RainbowSerenity's itty-bitty ego is starting to inflate. Run for the hills!

Hmm, it's midnight on a technically Saturday, so you know what that means: a bowl of cereal and then coloring on the walls. WHEEE!

Good times, good times.

Now why don't you all be dolls and **review**, hrmmm? ;D


	3. Chapter Two: Cheering Fury

-gasp- Is this an UPDATE?! Total maddness! -falls over- Yes, yes, I've been slacking, I know. BAD RAINBOWSERENITY! -smacks self- But seriously, I've been as busy as heck, and probably even more so since I must get...dun dun dun...a JOB to pay for "my"...squeak...HORSE! Long story. Other than that...yes, I've actually had a life lately. Let's just say I can't wait to get to the romance-y parts in this fic. Bwhaha.

This chapter is for the ever-impatient Adriel! SUPER W00T!

**Chapter Two**

No, Chase wouldn't play his freaky guitar just in the closet. Oh no, no, no, he played it in our room, outside, in the living room, just about anywhere, as long as Ma wasn't in the house. On one half, I found it amazing he knew how to play that thing without a single lesson...or so he's told me. One the other, I wanted to grab that piece of whatever-guitars-are-made-of and bash it over his spiky head.

It was about a month after our birthday, and I was trying to escape his playing, Jeff's hunger for burritos, Eric's Torchic training, David's quotes from a Pokedex, and Mom's constant phone calls to Dad—all at once. Honestly, I live in a zoo.

Finally finding some peace in the den, I flopped and laid down on the couch, propping my feet up and the armrest and flipping through the channels. Nothing...nothing...arguh...ooo, Spanish soap opera...nah...

I saw someone sit in a chair next to my head, and I looked up to see it was my geeky brother David. I rolled my blue eye, but he didn't notice. David's nice enough for someone only like five months older than me and Chase—I mean, he isn't constantly trying to get his Torchic to evolve or begging for a friggin' burrito, but his mind is filled with nothing but Pokemon. I've always wanted to become a trainer to get out of here and see the world; David wants to see all the new Pokemon. If we're channel-flipping, I stop at Spanish soap operas, he stops at—

"Oh, wait," he said in his nasally voice. He pushed his huge ass glasses up his nose. "I've been waiting to see this."

I raised an eyebrow at the screen. "Um, Rapidash show jumping? Why would you want to watch _this? _Only sissies and rich people play this game, anyway."

"It's a very sought-after sport," David defended. "You need to find a Rapidash of the right height, the right fitness level, and of course, the right balance. Many riders nowadays feed them PokeBlocks to heighten their abilities, but there are still some 'oldie-but-goodie' riders that use traditional methods."

"Like who?" I laughed to myself, wondering why I was even caring.

"Oh, I'm hoping she'll be riding. I quite admire her work with Rapidashes. She's been around them her whole life, apparently."

"Whatever." I sat up, slumping against the back of the couch. Chase came into the room, but David was oblivious, staring at the screen with huge eyes.

"Hey loser," I greeted. "Break any strings yet?"

"Of course not. What are we watching?"

"Rapidash show jumping. Careful, you might step in a puddle of David's drool. Don't wanna get those band boots dirty, now, do we?"

"You are so full of crap," Chase growled, and chucked a pillow at me. Of course, not wanting to be outdone, I smacked him back. In all but two seconds, it quickly escalated into an all-out pillow war, twin against twin, until David cried, "She's on!"

Still not knowing why I was bothering to care, I stopped thwacking Chase and stared at the screen. An oldish-looking woman—you could tell she was more than middle aged, but apparently she was really fit and that made her seem a little younger—was riding a Rapidash in a fancy-schmancy outfit. The Rapidash's flames were burning brightly, and was moving gracefully.

Some bell rung on the screen, and I watched, fascinated, as she and the Rapidash seemingly moved as one over all of the brightly colored jumps. For some odd reason, I felt as if the more I watched, the more...I couldn't stop. For whatever reason, something seemed...familiar.

I glanced over at David, who was watching intently, though not really affected. Chase, though, seemed as mesmerized as I was, frowning a little and trying to wonder why we were so captivated by this person we didn't know.

I blinked as another bell rung on the screen. I guess she was done riding. An announcer suddenly blared, "And that's a clear round for Diana Tamer!"

It was like someone stabbed me in the chest. I placed my hand there, my eyes widening—my right one more so, for some reason—and stared at the TV, gasping with each breath.

Chase grabbed my arm, and I could tell he was feeling the same way, only it looked like he couldn't breath at all. We both sat there still, just staring as Diana Tamer rode offscreen and the camera angle changed.

"What's wrong with you two?" I blinked and let out a hushed gasp, finding myself facing David, who was looking concerned.

"What?"

He frowned. "You two seemed quite shocked when you saw the round. I will admit, that was a tough course, but you can't be too surprised at a rider like her clearing the round."

I glanced back at Chase, whose eyes were still wide—his blue one a little more, like me. "It...it wasn't that," I said carefully.

David shrugged slightly, looking back at the television. "Well, if it's another one of your 'twin' things, then I would care not to hear about it. I'd like to finish watching this course in peace, if you don't mind."

"Yeah..." Chase and I said in unison, both of us getting up, our boots clunking as we left the room and David to his drooling about the Rapidashes. What a geek.

Once we were out of earshot of everyone, I looked over at Chase, feeling, for once in my life, worried. "What do you think that was about?"

"No idea," he replied slowly, still sounding like he had trouble breathing. "I've never heard of that woman before in my life. So why..."

"...Did we go crazy like that?" I finished, biting my lip. I glanced down, sighing, and a glint of something caught my eye. I lifted my tattooed arm up, and both of my eyes widened: one of the symbols was...well, _glowing._

"...And I bet that's it. Kally? You listening?"

"Huh?" I swung my arm down at looked back up at my twin. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Nothing. What were you gawking at?"

"I was _not _gawking," I spat back. "I thought...well, I thought one of these symbols was..." I paused.

"Was what?"

"Well...glowing."

Chase made a grab for my arm and lifted it at an odd angle, ignoring my sudden bitching at him for just doing that. He looked 'round and 'round my arm, frowning deeper with every passing second.

"You're crazy," he finally concluded, practically shoving my arm back into its socket. "You were just seeing things."

"Yeah, whatever. Tell Ma I'm going over to Donna's, okay?"

"Sure. I'll be in the linen closet if you need me. Soundproofed."

"Right," I nodded, my Meowth eared-hairdo feeling heavy for some reason. Without another word, Chase slowly started up the stairs and I made my way out the front door and down the block to Donna's, ignoring how hot it was in my black tights, black miniskirt, and black T-shirt with the fishnet sleeves. My boots clunked and the spiky leather bracelets around my wrists only added to the heat.

All I could do was grumble how Donna had _better _be home, or I'd kick her ass.

---

So there I found myself, sitting on a dirty sidewalk, glaring at the passerbyers who were staring at me like I was homeless. All I could think was, Hey, I need to get Chase with his guitar out here sometime. We might actually be able to make some cash. Then I can get a car, find Donna, and yell at her for not being home.

My thoughts drifted back to that morning. Why _did _that woman on TV make Chase and I act so funny? It was beyond weird. I'm not one to follow Rapidash show jumping, and I had never heard David talk about that rider. Well, I don't know that for sure. Usually whenever he starts going on and on about Pokemon statistics, I tune him out and leave the room—usually leaving him still talking.

Chase and I knew we couldn't talk to Ma about it. Heck, I couldn't really talk to her about anything. This wasn't because I didn't want to; it was because she didn't know anything. Whenever I asked about my birth parents, all she would do was shrug and say, "I never knew them."

It's kind of sad, in a weird, twisted way. According to Ma, she adopted Chase and I when we were only a few months old. She never met our birth parents, and all she got was a paper stating our names and weight and blah, blah, blah. So that meant I truly wasn't really a Merta by blood. Not that I've ever felt like one.

I don't moon around and wish I could meet them, though. It's even more of a waste of time than sitting here on a sidewalk against a grafftied wall, watching all of the trainers/business people/Officer Jenny run by.

I sniggered, wondering what my idiot brothers, minus Chase, would do if they saw me out here. Or my parents. Geez, no wonder I feel like such an outsider in the family. Jeff, being a surfer, has all the girls drooling after him. He's got the same baby blue eyes, blonde hair, and skin that tans easily that Ma has. Eric, the oldest of the idiot trio, has Dad's poofy brown hair and Mom's eyes. David, the nerdiest, also has those baby blue eyes, but you can hardly see them behind his glasses. He got Dad's hair poofiness and Mom's color.

And Chase and I? Hmm, let's see—pale; right eye turquoise, left eye deep brown; and brown/black hair. Not to mention Chase and I are already on the tall side and everyone else in the family is short.

And don't even get me _started _on our tastes. Gawd, if Eric could live in jeans and a trainer shirt, I'm sure he'd do it. Jeff? Surfing gear. And all David cares about is having a Pokedex in his pocket.

Chase and I have always been way different from them, and not just in looks. I'm probably the kind of girl you'd see walking down the street and you'd think I was some sort of street punk, with my funky black clothes, dark eye makeup, weird hair, zillions of bracelets, tall boots, and now...tattoo. Same with Chase, only people wouldn't dare call him anything to his face. I haven't quite figured it out, but he's always had this brooding air of mystery around him. If it wasn't for me, I don't think he'd talk at all.

An annoyingly-high pitched squeal suddenly interrupted my train of thought. I blinked and stared out into to the street, trying to figure out who or _what _made that noise. Knowing my luck, probably some sort of killer squealing Pokemon that was out to get us all.

But wait! It wasn't some mutated Pokemon on the rampage. It wasn't the sound of a siren as Officer Jenny chased some Team Magma members down the street. No...

It was the cheerleaders and their annual Pride-For-Pokemon bake sale.

I rolled my eyes—both of them—and stared across the street as my school's cheerleading team smiled their perfectly shiny white teeth at anyone passing by, encouraging them to buy brownies or a piece of that cake or pie. I have no idea why they even bother. So they're raising money for the Pokemon Center. Big fat whoop. It's not the Center actually needs it.

I would sooner be forced to wear a completely pink outfit than hang out with the school's cheerleaders, so I didn't really recognize any of them. They were all rah-rahing for the sweets and the Pokemon Center, swishing their sparkly pompoms around like their were queens of the world.

As I squinted, I realized that I could make out a few of the faces. People who were in my class, girls who gave speeches during assemblies (while Donna and I hid under the bleachers and poked people in the legs with thumbtacks), and faces that were vaguely familiar from when I actually lifted my gaze off the floor in the hallways.

I sniggered as two people walked right by the table without so much as a glance at it. The squad look a bit less peppy after that, but still chanted. I slowly got up, rolling my eyes. I decided to humor them and buy a brownie or something.

As soon as I was at the table, they stopped chanting and they _all _gave me this Look—even worse than Ma's. I rolled my blue eye, causing one of the girls to look in disgust and sit down, crossing her arms.

I raised an eyebrow and pulled a dollar bill and some loose change from my skirt pocket. "What'll this get me?" I asked, a little too sweetly...ha, ha. _Sweet_ly—get it?

"Away from here," one of the girls said in a snooty voice, narrowing her eyes at me. "What are _you _doing here, you _freak?"_

"Buying some food, I was hoping, but I guess you're too much of a self-absorbed little bitch to sell me anything," I replied, still using my sugar-coated voice.

That same girl's eyes got wide and her mouth fell open. Hmm...I guess she's never been called a 'self-absorbed little bitch' before.

"You...you...you...!" she sputtered, trying to think of something evil enough to call me. Apparently she couldn't think of anything, because she turned to face someone who was hidden by a book and yelled, "STACIE! DID YOU HEAR WHAT THIS _FREAK_ CALLED ME?!"

The one she was yelling to, Stacie, I would assume, lowered the book she had been reading. I could tell right away she was at this bake sale because she had to be, not because she wanted to be. I wondered if she was even a cheerleader at all—she certainly _looked_ the part, with her bright blue eyes, fluffy blonde hair, and expertly applied makeup, but she was a big large...not really fat or anything, but big-boned. The other 'leaders were thin as pins.

Plus, there was the fact that she did look totally bored, and the book she had been reading before she was so rudely interrupted was a thick paperback about ancient Pokemon. No cheerleader would be caught dead reading stuff like that, but here Stacie was in broad daylight with the book.

She eyed me and raised an eyebrow, and I raised one back, just to show off. She sat and I stood, with the loose change still clutched in my hand, just staring at each other, waiting for the other to back down. Finally, Stacie broke into a small smile.

"Kerri, I would advise you watch what you say to any potential customers," she said to the cheerleader who had just back-sassed me. "They might get the wrong idea." With one last glance at me, eyebrow again raised, she resumed her previous position of her nose in a book.

Kerri's gargantuan mouth, if possible, dropped down even further, and she started sputtering out at Stacie, too dumb to think of anything to say. I just dropped my change on the table, grabbed the least sugary-looking item there, and walked off without another word.

I don't know if it was my imagination or not, but I could've sworn I heard Stacie whisper behind me, "Rock on."

---

Fweeee.

Adriel-- Hey, DID you get your permit? Bwhaha. Just a hint: Don't accelerate around turns. Bad thing.

Robin Ryan-- Heh heh, I'm totally positive this whole FIC isn't what ANYONE is going to expect it to be...it's gonna be weird, that is, if I ever finish it!

Rose-- Yeah, Kalista and Chase are weird. XD And a good time to make an exception...-evil grin-

Hazy Aurora-- YAY PIE! :D Glad you like it so far! Kalista's my bad-girl Tamer XD

Kat-- Mmm, fondue. Haha. And see, the funny thing is, I don't know a THING about guitars or anything about songwriting or whatnot, so this should be interesting how I work around it. Heh heh. -cough-

ZeroChan-- Hmmm...wonder why Chase reminds you of Darrell...-evil grin- -cough cough cough- Lurk! Quit eating my cake, you...evil Espeon, you! Bwhaha, I'm glad you're liking the characters so far! Kalista seems popular, and it's only one chapter into the fic. Freaky. XD

Harunohi-- Yay marshmallow! :D

Karania-- YAY CAKE! -gobbles cake- Ugh...ate too fast...X.x;; Cake the size of Texas...that's my DREAM! XD

LoneHowl-- PIE! -drools- Hmm...that deals makes no sense...but...we shall find who gets the last pie! BWHAHAH!

Hakura0-- Mean computers suck. Haha, yes, you're supposed to cover them or something...when my sister got hers, she had to rub this cream stuff on it for a few weeks. But this here we're talking about is what's called a 'jailhouse tattoo'...and nobody covers them. They get all scabby and nasty. But not on Kalista, 'cause she's cool like that. :P  
And hey, if you ever do draw Donna, you must show me! -wink wink-

Almighty DB-- Man, I'm drowning in pies tonight! Glad you liked the chapter!

Kirin RaKash-- Aw, thanks! -blush-

So wow...I'm surprised that there was such a positive reaction to Kalista's character! Nothing like a not-known Tamer being bad to the bone. Bwhahaha.

I must post this before Adriel has a heart attack! Remember, **review **and I will love you!


	4. Chapter Three: The New Guy

Hey all, remember me? XD Geez, at the rate this is going, this fic's gonna have an update a MONTH, which I'm REALLY not digging at all. But hey, at least I'm updating at all...

Oh yeah, word of advice to people with significant others: if you plan on breaking up with them, give them an actual REASON. Randomness is not good in this case.

I'll shut up now...

**Chapter Three**

It was about the tenth time Chase was playing that tune...over...and _over..._

"You messed up my hair," he complained, finally stopping and reaching up to make sure I didn't really screw his hair up. Which would've been impossible, considering the amount of gel he puts in it could give both Donna and I a run for our money.

"Yeah, whatever," I replied, wiping my gel-covered hand on his black tee. I had been attempting to smack him in the head for playing the same exact thing for the past half hour, and not even sitting in a closet for it; just sitting on the edge of his bed in the corner of the room, playing and _playing._

And of course, all of the gel in his hair, and the fact that he can be more thick-headed than Jeff at times prevented me from getting in a decent smack.

"That tune is driving me insane!" I shrieked right into his pierced ear. He didn't even flinch, but turned to look at me, his right eye twitching the slightest bit.

"Do that again, _Kally," _he said, and I couldn't help but make a face. "I think I still have some hearing left in this ear."

"Oh darn," I replied. "See, I was hoping I _wouldn't _make you deaf; just make you realize how crazy you're driving me, is all."

"Nice try."

"Can't you at least play that in the closet? So I may get just a _little _relief to my burning eardrums?"

"No."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're a pain in the ass."

"I know."

A man of very few words; that was my brother.

I finally gave up, just throwing my arms in the air and grabbing my platform boots before stomping down the stairs and yelling to whoever happened to be around that I was going over Donna's. Eric, who had brought his Torchic inside to try and teach it to thaw food with its Ember attack, nodded to me while he was talking to the confused lil' fire Pokemon.

Sweet. I wouldn't be locked out of the house today.

---

"You shouldn't yell at him for constantly playing that thing," Donna said, sketching an outline of what looked like a really fat Eevee onto a canvas. "Hey, you never know, he might actually be famous one day."

I snorted—not very smart, considering I was laying facedown on Donna's futon couch, so I inhaled a lot of dust instead of sounding like Swinub. "Riiiight. Dude, he doesn't even have a _band _together. And I doubt he can sing for crap."

"Ever hear him sing?"

"Not recently."

"Well, there you go. How does this look?" She pointed at the canvas with a black painted fingernail.

"Is that Eevee pregnant or something?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "It's a Pikachu."

"Then it looks perfect."

"You bitch!" she growled, but still smiling, and threw one of her broken pencils at me. I ducked, and it stabbed the wall, leaving a slight mark.

"Tell me something I don't know," I said, picking at my shirt sleeve. Unconsciously, I started humming the song Chase had been driving me insane with. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I smacked myself in the forehead and banged my head against the wall.

"Aw, c'mon, it can't be _that _bad," Donna said, going back to her sketch. I looked up, and saw she had that look in eye whenever she really gets into an art project. She had that look while she was doing my tattoo, and it usually meant she was off to la-la land. I had been noticing (though he tried to hide it) that Chase got the same look when he was playing his guitar. I've seen Jeff be that happy when he was surfing; Eric, training his Torchic; and David when he was organizing Pokemon statistics.

Wow, I couldn't help but think as I continued to watch Donna draw. How pathetic. I was the only one in my family that didn't have a talent. I didn't really get gooey-eyed or happy about much of _anything_.

It's all Ma's fault, for not letting me see the world. Yeah, let's blame it on her.

I stared at Donna, in all of her drawing glory. "You know what...I think I'm gonna go," I said, already leaping off the bed and out of the room. Donna's head barely bobbed up and down as I left for home, not really wanting to go to school the next day. Damn conformists.

---

"Oh geez, Kalista," Ma sighed as I walked into the kitchen to pour myself a killer bowl of plain cornflakes. The overly-sugary ones were for the boys. "Must you dress like that? Honestly, I'll be grateful to the day that school of yours makes you wear uniforms."

I shuddered. "Ma, please, don't scare me so early in the morning." I drowned the flakes in milk, prepared to snarf them down.

Jeff walked into the room, looking bleary-eyed. "Oh, well look, if it isn't the Queen of the Undead," he slurred, yanking the fridge open.

"At least I'm not the one screwing Debbie," I shot back, slamming my bowl on the table.

Ma raised her eyebrows. "_Excuse me?"_

Jeff's eyes widened, but then he glared at me. I smiled innocently, and dug into my cereal. Chase came in the kitchen, his hands shoved into the pockets of his baggy black pants, while Ma was busy yelling at the Pretty Boy.

"She finally found out?" he muttered, going for the cereal and getting the most sugar-coated one there was. Blech.

"Yeah," I snorted. "But I mean, come on. She was going to find out anyway. Who goes to the library three times a week to 'study' and manages to flunk their classes?"

Chase didn't reply, but shoved an enormous spoonful of sugar into his mouth. His hair still looked wet from the gel he used to overly spike it. He seemed to go into a trance and was staring at something above my left Meowth ear.

"What?" I asked, even though I should know better than to talk to Chase when he got all spacey. Which had been happening an awful lot lately. Weirdo.

I rolled my blue eye and shoveled in the last bit of cornflakes just as David walked in for breakfast, and I let out a huge _buuuuuuuuuurp._

David made a face. "Honestly, Kalista. That is quite possibly the most disgusting thing I have ever heard."

"Yeah," Jeff agreed, over his shoulder as Ma paused in her lecturing. "Why can't you be a girl like the rest of the female population?"

"Like your precious Debbie?" I muttered. Jeff opened his mouth to yell at me, but Ma beat him—only to yell at him instead. Heh, heh. And who says hiding under bleachers doesn't pay off?

"But really," David continued, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You're a female. So act like it."

"Hey, I'm surrounded by all you dudes twenty-four seven," I countered. "And you expect me to act girly? Fat chance."

David just shook his head and bit into his breakfast, burnt toast. I finished my food and dumped the bowl into the sink, proceeding to find my stuff for the day.

School. I just _couldn't _wait.

Not.

---

I honestly don't see the point of classes beyond sixth grade. It was just so pointless. The whole freaking Hoenn region knows that Fire is strong against Grass-types, Electricity kicks Water's butt, and that you should never feed a Pikachu ketchup.

So while the teacher blabbered on and on about the advantages of Dark Pokemon over Psychic ones, I doodled the symbols that made up my tattoo in my notebook. The design was pretty easy to see out of the corner of my eye—I was really flaunting it today, in my black tank top with 'DON'T MESS WITH THE BEST' written on it in silver letters, fishnet 'gloves' that went from my wrist to my elbow, black and red wrist cuffs, a studded red belt, long black pants, and my trusty boots.

I loooove not having a dress code.

I suddenly winced as someone—that someone being Donna—poked me in the right arm with her sharp, pointy nail. I resisted the urge to scream out in pain. After a month, this friggin' tattoo _still _hurt.

"What?!" I hissed.

"The bell rang, stupid," she said, gathering her books and crap. "You were really zoning out. What's up?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. Just the usual stuff, I guess." I got up, lugging my backpack over my shoulder and heading out the door—but not before literally bumping into someone.

"Hey, watch it!" I growled, gritting my teeth. I immediately stopped though, when I looked up...and up...and saw the same blonde hair, expert makeup, and clothes with a dangerously high percentage of polyester that had told off one of her own kind the other day.

Oops.

"Oh...sorry," I said, not really knowing why I was apologizing. Why I felt that I had to correct my mistake. I mean, it was just a really tall cheerleader. No big deal.

"Not a problem." A secretive little smile appeared on her lips, and she promptly got out of my way. _So_ not like the normal preppy people around here.

Once Stacie was out of earshot, Donna turned to me and raised an eyebrow. "Um, what was _that _all about? Since when do you apologize to _anyone _for _anything?"_

The warning bell was already ringing, but I didn't care. Pokemon Social Aspects was next; a total yawn. The teacher could wait.

"You know what, Donna?" I readjusted the load of crap on my back. "I honestly couldn't tell you." The final bell rang, and I left Donna there as I opened the door to PSA class. I looked over my shoulder and gave a little smile. "Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

She rolled her eyes as the door slowly swung shut. "Puh-lease."

---

After another fifty minutes of boredom, complete with doodling in my notebook, the bell rang and it was time for lunch. I usually grab whatever junk they try to serve us that day and save the end corner table for Donna, Chase, and I, but when I got to the cafeteria, I saw Chase (made known by his horrendously spiky head) already sitting at a different table with some other dude, who, I'm surprised I never noticed before—he also had spiky hair, thought not nearly as bad as Chase's, that fell in front of his face and hid his dark blue eyes. He was also dressed completely in black.

Which was weird. The only people who tend to dress like that are Chase, Donna, and I. Everyone else tends to stick to pastels. Or cheerleading uniforms.

I decided to ask him about it later and grabbed my food. I was about to just sit down and snarf the crap, but lo and behold...another dude was _in my seat._

Everyone who has half a brain knows to _never _take _my seat. _My butt has been in that chair since the day I started that school, and it would be until I actually, for some reason, graduated. NO ONE takes Kalista Merta's seat unless they want to die right then and there.

I glared at the so-called human who's butt was in the place mine normally resides. I recognized him about as well as I did of the person Chase was talking to. Geez, was this transfer-student day or something?

I walked over to my table, my boots clicking with every step. The guy didn't look up. I realized, as I plopped my tray on the tabletop, that he, too, was into the all-black scheme. Only, it seemed...I don't know, like he actually had a reason for wearing it. His hair was black too; and getting kind of long.

_'Buddy, you need a haircut,' _I thought before attempting to smile and saying, "Hey, dude. You're in my seat."

He looked up, raising a dark eyebrow, a stark contrast to his pale skin. Almost as pale as mine, in fact, and that was saying a lot. His eyes were so dark that almost couldn't tell where the iris was and the pupil began.

"In your seat?" he repeated.

I put a hand on my hip, leaning on the table and staring him down like an Onix would a Skitty. "Yes, mister. Your butt is in _my _seat, and I would appreciate it if you moved your ass somewhere else before I hurt you."

His eyebrow was raised. "Please, it's Josh. 'Mister' is so formal."

Shit. Another smart ass. And I thought I was the only one my school could handle.

"Fine, _Josh._" I spat out his name. "I'll be nice. Would you kindly get your ass out of _my _damn seat before I frigging _kill you._"

Though everyone in the cafeteria was talking, it felt like it was silent for ages before he smirked and got up, moving exactly one chair over—where Chase usually sits. "I take it this seat is available, your highness?"

What a cocky bastard.

I replied by taking my chair from the table, making a huge show of wiping it off with my napkin, and sitting in it—after I had moved it to the other side.

Josh rested his chin on his fingers, looking at me with his eyebrow _still _raised. "Is that any way to treat the new kid?"

"Well, you're not the only one who's new," I retorted, stabbing my lunch with a spork.

"Really now. Who else is new?"

"That dude where my brother's sitting." Josh looked confused for a second, and I realized he didn't know who Chase was. Duh.

"Those two Goth-looking guys with the spiky hair," I added. Josh looked and nodded in understanding.

"Andrew? Yeah, I met him briefly in Lavaridge Town. Seems pretty quiet."

"How did you meet him Lavaridge Town?"

"I don't know about him, but I was a trainer. Very briefly, for only about a year and a half. I had the urge to go out and look for something."

I snorted. Bad move; I nearly got peas up my nose. "What sort of thing?"

He didn't answer for about thirty seconds. I looked up from my tray to realize he was staring at me. I made a face, wondering what the hell he was looking at—so I asked him just that.

"Your eyes are very interesting," was his answer. I resisted the urge to throttle him and just gave a half-shrug with my tattooed arm.

"Should I take that as a compliment?" Man, I love sarcasm.

He didn't seem to get the hint. Then, in a voice so low that I actually had to lean in to hear it, he said, "They look like they hold a legend."

I blinked and just stared as the bell rang and everyone got up all at once to get to their next class, including Josh himself. I just sat there, stunned, for some reason, until one of the old cafeteria ladies poked me in the arm with a spoon and told me to move it.

I got up and walked down the hall to my next class, replaying the conversation over and over in my head. Why had it bugged me so much?

What a weirdo, that Josh...Josh Whatever-His-Last-Name-Is was.

-----

-evil laugh-

Anyway. Because I love my reviewers!...

Adriel—Wait, I can't have killed you! Because I did, you couldn't review! So...-revives you- Muhahahah!

Kat—O.O Well, let's just say I don't want to DIE...

ZeroChan—Hello, these are my characters we're talking about. They're all dense! XD And it is quite funny. Pompom is a funny word...-sniggers-

Harunohi—Thanks much! :-D

Karania—If you don't know what I'm going to say, that's pretty sad XD

Robin Ryan—Reviews can never be late! After all, you're talking to someone who got reviews two YEARS after she finished a fic! So muhahaha...yay twins. And I'm feeling a lot better about what I was talking to you about; I'm at the stage where I'm just pissed-off-fake-happy and want to throttle whatever comes my way :-D

Hakura0—Darn that school –wink wink- Ha, I could use a soundproof room for at home here...--  
And we'll see about those predictions –wink wink-

LoneHowl—Hey, I like bi guys. They're awesome. At least most of the ones at my school are XD But yeah, it's funny because I'm using the typical cheerleader stereotype here, and some people are like, "Oh, the ones at my school aren't like that" and other are, "AHH I CAN SO RELATE!" Weird. O.o

Hazy Aurora—It's quite amusing, let me tell you –evil grin-

-sigh- Okay, I need to write this fic some more. Actually, I put fake nails on my left hand yesterday, and it's kind of annoying type with them...heh, it's funny, one hand is all nice and whatnot, and the other is short and full of pencil dust. XD But then again, it feels like my brain is only on halfway, so it's acceptable. X.X

Anyway! Next update, hopefully before Christmas so I can wish you all a happy holiday. I want to get back into weekly ones, but I've barely had any time to write this, so we'll see how it goes.

Until next time...you must...**review!**

How did you know I was going to say that? ;D


	5. Chapter Four: Business Affair

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!**

Here's everyone's present: an updated! XD Oh yeah, nice present...kinda. ;P

Thank goodness for Christmas break...I've actually been working on this! –gasp- And...visiting my horse! A HORSE! A HORSE! RAINBOWSERENITY GOT A HORSE! –squeals like a schoolgirl- Hehehe. Totally made up for crap I've been going through lately. ;D

But enough about me! Why should I keep you waiting any longer? READ, MY MINIONS (yes Kat, that also means you!)!

**Chapter Four**

"So who was that dude you were talking to before?"

Chase blinked, shifting his grip on the books he was carrying. "Who?"

"That guy you talking to in the cafeteria. Which, by the way, you were doing so, I was being harassed by some new kid. But never mind that."

"What?"

"I asked you first."

He rolled his eyes, both of them. "Promise not to tell Ma."

"Sure."

Chase ran a hand through his hair, somehow not getting his hand covered in gel. I must take lessons from him one of these days. "His name's Andrew; and he's new. Apparently he used to be a Pokemon Trainer, and just transferred here. He had the same kind of luck Eric had."

"Sucks for him."

"Yeah. But we were talking, and I found out that he plays bass. Or used to take lessons, before he went off training, anyway. I'm trying to convince him to start it up again so we can start this band."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Right. Um, Chase, you kind of need more than a guitar player and a possible bass player to have a band."

"Hey, give me time."

"And I doubt you can sing for crap. Where are you going to find some awesome, sexy lead singer that will make people look twice at you?"

"Thanks Kally. So glad you're so supportive."

"I try."

Chase and I both suddenly sighed in unison. It was getting hot, and for once, I was actually regretting wearing so much black. Eric was working at the Pokemon Center, so it wasn't like he could pick us up; Jeff had gotten a ride to the beach with his surfer dude buds; and David was staying after school, as usual. Why anyone would _want _to stay in school is beyond me, but hey, to each their own.

But honestly, I could've caught the bus. I didn't _have _to follow Chase, but nooo, I was too desperate to find out who the heck he had been talking to. And now I was paying the price by sweating half my body weight off.

"How the hell do you walk home like this every day?" I asked.

He gave a half shrug. "Practice."

"You need to give me lessons."

"You wish."

"Shut up."

And he did. I'll tell you one thing about Chase; he does take direction well. Wish all brothers could do that.

---

When we finally got home, the house was, as David would say, 'in a tizzy'. Whatever the hell a 'tizzy' is. Ma was running back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room carrying random dinner-type stuff. Which was even more weird, because we _never _eat in the dining room; just whenever we have family over or something. You know, holiday-type madness. Ma says the boys give her too much of a headache for us to eat in the dining room all the time.

Chase ignored the tizzy-ness and clomped upstairs to our room, but I wanted to know what was going on. I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, raising an eyebrow.

"So Ma, what's with the setup?" I asked.

She let out a sigh, as if she'd explained it a zillion times already, which couldn't have been true since Chase and I were the first ones home. "Your father's bringing a new prospective employee over tonight. Sort of like a business meeting, only more... 'light-hearted'."

I snorted. Who was she kidding? Whenever Dad did this, he acted like he was still at the office and gave all his attention to the prospective employee. Never mind that these were the only times he actually came home before midnight, or that the only time he ever had dinner with all of us was during these little meetings. So while Dad schmoozed with the new guy, the rest of us would try not to add too much to the awkwardness around us.

I suddenly wondered what my birth father was like. Did he work from nine to five, or was it always overtime? If Chase and I still lived with our birth parents, would he make time for us, or would he always throw himself into his job?

Weird. I hated getting random thoughts about my birth parents; I didn't even _know _them for one thing, and for another, it just reminded me how, now matter how much I wished it, I would never really be a Merta; that I didn't have the roots everyone takes for granted.

"Um, Kalista, dear, if you don't have a reason to be in here, I really need to get this done," Ma snapped, interrupting my thoughts.

"Actually, I was getting a snack," I smiled sweetly, making my way through the madness and grabbing an apple before smirking at Ma and running upstairs.

When I got into our room, Chase had already made himself comfortable in the closet and was strumming away on the guitar. I tried to imagine that Andrew dude playing the bass along with him, and what they would sound like. I snorted. I'd really rather _not _imagine it, now that I think of it.

I flopped onto my bed, dumping the contents of my backpack onto it. I considered doing homework for a second, but naah...that would actually involve _working. _And who does that anymore?

I bit into my apple, wishing David was home so he could do my homework for me. I had no idea how long he was going to be staying at the school though—he'd been working on some project for what seemed like a million years. Something to do with those show jumping Rapidashes he loves so much.

Chase's guitar playing was starting to irk me even though I could barely hear it while he was in the closet, so I grabbed a random CD from my pile of stuff on the floor and put it into my stereo, jamming the 'Play' button. Instantly, a punk rock band came blasting through the speakers. I smiled and sang along with the words, belting out every tune.

"KALISTA, TURN THAT THING DOWN!" Mom's voice bellowed from downstairs, though I could hardly hear it through my music and singing. I didn't want her to be in a bad mood for the dinner though, so I actually obeyed for once and turned it down. Funny, whenever any of my brothers do this same thing, she tells them to shut up in addition to turning it down. Guess I've just got the magic touch.

For the next two hours, I listened to my CD's and Chase's guitar clashing while singing all the lyrics to myself and trying to muster up the energy to do something other than to try to muster the energy to do my homework. And at exactly six-thirty, just when I thought I'd finally found the strength to do that, Mom yelled, "KIDS! WE HAVE COMPANY!" like it wasn't planned or something.

Chase stopped playing and poked his head out of the closet, rolling his eyes. He gently put his guitar away and I groggily stood up.

"Time to play the part of the good little children," I sighed, patting my Meowth ears. I always loved seeing these new prospective employees take a glance at my hair—it was always amusing.

"Good?" Chase said. "Since when are you ever good?"

"Shut up." I punched him in the arm. I saw Jeff and David coming out of their room, and Eric coming out of his at the same time. Good. We could suffer the walk downstairs together.

"You need to keep that stupid excuse for a Pokemon _out _of my room!" Jeff was yelling at Eric. Oh, great. "It's Ember is out of control, dude! It nearly burnt my board! And you _know _how much those things cost!"

"Only because you never shut up about it," Eric muttered. "Why can't you stop leaving your stuff where Torchic can get at it?"

"What's your deal dude?!"

I glanced at Chase. Aw, great. No chance for a Nice-Family-Dinner-So-We-Can-Prove-To-People-We-Can-Get-Along-And-Live-Happily-Ever-After with Jeff yelling at Eric. Once you got Jeff in pissed-off-angsty mode, you couldn't shut him up.

"Boys," a warning voice came from the living room. It took me a second to realize that it was Dad's voice.

"Yeah boys," I sniggered. Yet I actually couldn't help but wonder if Dad _forgot _he had a girl, too.

Once we were all downstairs, Jeff and Eric were quiet, though you could tell they were dying to just beat each other up; David had a glazed look in his eyes that told you he'd spent too much time in front of the computer today; and Chase and I would've just rather been anywhere else.

"Kids," Dad said, all prim and proper in his suit and tie like this was a business dinner instead of something in his own home. Which I guess, really, it was. "This is Mr. Pien."

"Hello Mr. Pien," we chorused.

'Hello," he greeted warmly. I raised an eyebrow. He must've not spent enough time at Devon Corporation to have any sanity left in him. He was really tan, with short, blunt, blonde hair and green eyes that seemed a little too squinty.

If Dad hired him, they needed to put him where the public couldn't see him. Otherwise, people would get the wrong idea about Devon.

"I hope you don't mind Mr. Merta," Mr. Pien said to Dad, "But I brought my son with me. He actually seemed quite intent on coming with me tonight."

"The more the merrier!" Dad replied with fake enthusiasm. I sighed, wondering how long this dinner was going to take.

"Good," Mr. Pien smiled. Someone materialized from behind him, and my mouth fell open.

"This is my son Josh."

Aw, shit.

"Nice to meet you," Josh said to my dad, shaking his hand. Ugh. Sick, sick, sick.

"Hello," Dad replied, and I knew he was inwardly cringing at Josh's choice of outfit, which is the same thing he'd been wearing at school that day. Only now, a bar glinted over his left eyebrow. Lucky Psyduck.

Josh then turned to us, and when he raised an eyebrow, I knew he'd spotted me. Damnit.

"Why, hello Kalista," he smiled smoothly. Gag me.

"You know her already?" Mr. Pien asked, surprised.

"We met today at school. We actually even had lunch together."

Sick, man.

"Well, isn't that nice," Mr. Pien smiled. "Glad to see you're already making friends."

I resisted the urge to run to the bathroom and puke.

Dad cleared his throat. "Well then...my wife's waiting in the dining room, why don't we proceed and talk about this position you're interested in?"

I heaved a sigh as my brothers plus Josh followed the business men into the dining room. Ma was busy rearranging everything, and looked mildly shocked to see Josh with us.

"Oh, we have another guest?" she said through gritted teeth.

After more introductions, Ma looked over her perfectly set table. "Oh, well, we have some space...it'll be a little crowded, but I can sit you next to..."

Five minutes later, I was squished between Chase and Josh.

Why me?

"Isn't this just the funniest coincidence?" Josh smiled slyly. I had no idea what sort of crack he was smoking, because I didn't see one thing that was a bit funny about this situation.

"Is he really your dad, or did you pay him to put up with you so you could torture me?" I muttered.

He shrugged. "Believe me, I was as shocked as you when I came here. And I supposed he's not technically my father, but he raised me, so that's a father figure in my eyes."

"Huh?"

"I was adopted," he translated, shrugging like it was no big deal.

I blinked. "You were?"

"Yeah. Isn't it kind of obvious?"

"I guess. That's weird...Chase and I were adopted too."

Josh glanced over my plate and at Chase, who was staring down at his food, not saying a word, with visions of guitar chords probably in his head.

"You guys twins?" he asked.

I rolled my blue eye, which didn't seem to unnerve Josh in the slightest. "Isn't it kind of obvious?"

"Harsh, Merta," he smirked. "If that is, indeed, your real name."

"You know—"

"Will you two lovebirds please keep it down?!" Jeff cried, interrupting everyone's conversations except for Dad and Mr. Pien's, who were discussing Business Terms. "I'm trying to eat here!"

"Excuse me?!" I cried. "What the f—"

"Kalista, that's quite enough," Ma said sternly, knowing exactly what I was about to say. I succumbed and shut up, knowing that when Ma wanted to, she could be Disciplinary of the Year.

"Lovebirds, eh?" Josh smirked again. "Interesting he thinks of us that way."

"One more comment like that and you'll have more than an eyebrow piercing," I muttered.

"Touchy, touchy."

When I was sure no one else was looking, I flipped him off. I then stood up and put on my best painted smile. "Ma, may I be excused?"

She looked up, a little surprised. I think she had forgotten us kids were there; she was too busy schmoozing with Dad and Mr. Pien. "Sure, dear," she replied.

As I grabbed my plate and stuff and walked towards the kitchen to dump it off, for some reason, I was reminded of when Stacey had told those cheerleaders—her own clique—off in my defense. I have no idea what made that pop into my head, but it did...and even now, I couldn't believe all of these freaky people were associating with me. Crazy.

I walked out of the kitchen and try to start up towards my room, but of course, Josh had magically appeared in my way. I was in no mood for his cockiness, so I attempted to shove him out of the way.

"Why the hostility towards me?" he asked, stopping me in my tracks. He sounded sarcastic, and yet, somehow sincere. It was some sort of tone I couldn't really place. "We've known each other for barely a day, and already, you act like you want to kill me. Is this how you treat all the new kids?"

"Just the ones who _piss me off_," I hissed, spinning on my heel. "From the second I met you today, you've done nothing but act like some sort of cocky bastard to me. Your smart ass comments might work on someone else, but not me!" I then attempted to get away again, but he actually had the nerve to grab my arm and stop me.

"That legend still rests within you," he whispered. "You need to know."

Time seemed to stop for a moment. He stared into my eyes with an emotion I couldn't read, and I felt myself freeze. I had no clue what he was planning on doing, but it got interrupted when Jeff burst through the dining room door.

He snickered when he saw us. "Lovebirds! Lovebirds! Ha, ha, ha, ha-ha, ha!"

Josh quickly let go of me. "Shut up!" I yelled at Jeff, running over to him and punching him really hard in the arm. He's got muscles from surfing, but believe me, when I get pissed off enough, those arms of steel don't mean a thing.

"Kalista! Get off!" he whined. I rolled my eyes. Wuss.

Josh was smirking as Jeff went into the kitchen, holding his wounded arm. "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

"Buddy, you have no idea," I muttered, clenching my fists.

"No," he said in that weird voice of his eyes. "I think it's _you _who has no idea. Someday...you're going to let me tell you."

"What are you smoking, and where can I get some?"

He just smiled as his dad and mine came out, shaking hands. Guess all the schmoozing worked and Mr. Pien got the job. Hooray for him.

"Someday..." he trailed off as his dad called for them to leave. Finally, he left, and I was still standing there, my heart racing like it was about to fly out of my chest.

---

Around eleven that night, Chase and I were in our beds, trying to fall asleep, although I couldn't. After Josh had left, I tried to call Donna and ask her to make sense of this, but she had apparently been working on some art project and was too in la-la land to talk to me.

I stared up at the ceiling, where my freebie posters from Dark Pokemon 'Dise looked down at me. I couldn't sleep—my conversation with Josh kept replaying over and over in my mind.

"Chase?"

He snored.

"CHASE?!"

He snorted again, waking himself up. "Huh? Wuzdamadda," he slurred.

"Nothing. I just, er...wanted to talk."

He hadn't even opened his eyes, but I knew he had heard me. "Kally..." He yawned. "Some of us are trying to sleep here. I need to meet with Andrew tomorrow morning and talk some stuff over with him."

"Okay, fine then...go back to sleep."

"No, no, you got me, you might as well talk." He opened his eyes, sat up, and crossed his arms, looking at me sternly. Geez, he could be a grouch when he wanted to be.

I rolled my eyes and rolled to my side. "Never mind. Go back to sleep."

"No. Talk."

I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to let me off the hook until I did. "Have you ever wondered if...if maybe there's something big out there for us?"

"What brought this thought on?"

I heaved a sigh. "Josh said some things today that just really pissed me off...but made me wonder at the same time."

"Josh?"

I rolled my eyes. "That other guy that was here? The kid of the dude Dad was hiring?"

"Oh, right."

"Yeah, well...I dunno...he just made me think."

"That's some miracle."

I threw my old stuffed Eevee at him. "Shut up."

"Hey, watch—"

"—The hair, I know." I sighed again. "He said it looked like my eyes held a legend."

"What about mine?" Chase pretended to sound offended.

"Ha, ha. Consider yourself lucky he's not talking to you. I need to get him off my back."

"You will."

"Yeah, I know. 'Night Chase."

"Goodnight," he replied, yawning and flopping back down onto his bed, instantly falling asleep.

I envied him. It was a long time before I could fall asleep...and I hated to believe it was because my heart was still racing.

---

-evil grin-

I'm so mean to my characters.

But not to my reviewers! I LOVE YOU GUYS! –major glompage-

Harunohi—YAY PIE! –snarfs pie- And that wasn't a fridge, it was a freezer! :D

WildTotodile—Thank you very much! ;D –bows-

Karania-- -continues- Wow, that never gets old XD Or maybe just because I'm easily amused.

Hakura0—Yes, you should –wink wink- And yeah, people have been saying it's moving slowly, but I think it's just because _Lindsey _was updated once a week while this has been being updated once a month. Trust me though, it'll be picking up nicely soon. ;)

Kat—I have updated! Now bow to me! XD

ZeroChan—Heh heh, even half-asleep reviews are acceptable. ;) And what, POPCORN? No PIE?! –gasp- FOR SHAME!

Emerald Milotic—Thanks for your reviews! –huge grin- Here's an update, now you'll know what's happening...for now ;D

LoneHowl—Eh, okay, THEN you can dis him XD

Heh heh, you'll see...you shall ALL see...-evil grin-

zippi—Confusing my readers? I guess I'm doing my job! XD How IS she going to get there, indeed...

-squeak squeak- I hope everyone has an awesome holiday! Eat lots of cheese and candy canes, but not cheese-flavored candy canes! And don't forget to **review!**


	6. Chapter Five: Everything's Changing

insert massive scream here-

I'M ALIIIIVE!Just barely, but heeere I am!...and also really itchy at the moment. But that's a whole 'nother story.

Man, I feel so guilty…it's been two months since I've updated this. I'm not lying, though, when I say I've been busy: I got a job ('Would you like fries with that?'), a horse (-SQUEAL-), and am being pulled in a million different directions. Hooray! Also, I think editing may be in my future. Muhahaha.

But enough about it! Honestly, it isn't the writer's block that's keeping me from working on this—I have sooo many ideas! I can't remember the last time I was home for a 'family' dinner. Life is really taking a toll on me. Meeeneh. But even if it takes years and years...this fic WILL be completed!

Mwhahaha. Now, onto the hopefully much-anticipated...

**Chapter Five**

Over the next few months, things started to dramatically change—at least for Chase and I. For one thing, he actually got a band together. No joke—apparently Andrew knew a bunch of bums from around Hoenn, and they found themselves someone to do drums and another dude to play keyboard. They got together five times a week to practice—for what, I don't know, but they did. At first they set up and played in the den, but Ma got tired of the neighbors calling Officer Jenny on us, so she made them all clean out the garage, and now that's where they play.

As for me—I made two friends completely out of the blue. One was a cheerleader—that's right, Stacie—and the other...I guess not really a friend.

More like a boyfriend.

I still don't know why I said 'yes' to going out with him. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, and I hate his guts. But hey, cut me some slack. I'm thirteen. There will be other boyfriends.

I couldn't believe he actually had the nerve to ask me out. It was a Wednesday, and Donna was in the art room, putting the finishing touches on some painting during our lunch period, so Stacie was actually sitting at my table, clad in a pink shirt, tight blue jeans, and white sandals—major prep, but somehow, it worked for her. Anyway, we were talking about how much the cafeteria food sucked and how much money they'd save if they stopped making so much of the crap we don't want to eat, like those chili corn dogs, when he just sat down next to me like I had invited him or something.

"Hey Kalista," he greeted, raising an eyebrow at Stacie. I didn't blame him. People were still getting used to the fact that I, of all people, was hanging out with a cheerleader.

"Well, who's this?" Stacie asked warmly, like she was my mother or something.

"Josh Pien," he replied, nodding at her.

"Hello, Josh. I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"I transferred here a few _months _ago," he hissed. He had been impatient, and naïve little me hadn't picked up on it then. All I could think was that Josh probably thought Stacie was your typical blonde bimbo—and if he voiced that thought aloud, he was going to eat my fist for lunch.

"Oh, is that so?" Stacie smiled with her perfect, white teeth. "I'm amazed I didn't notice. You seem like one people could recognize."

"Yeah, maybe. Listen, could I talk to Kalista alone for a minute?"

"Oh, sure," she smiled again, and I wondered how she was able to keep up that cheery façade all the time. I'd kill myself if I were her. But with a wink at me, she got up and sat at the table the cheerleading squad takes over every day, and joined in their conversation, even though they were all staring at her for hanging out with a freak such as me.

I rolled my blue eye at them, knowing Kerry saw it when she winced and stabbed at her salad. Ha, ha.

I turned to Josh. "So why did you so rudely interrupt my conversation with her and just suddenly butt in at my table?"

"What are you doing this Friday night?"

I blinked, not really sure if I had heard him correctly. "Uhh..." All I could think was, _'Donna, why are you always in that blasted art room when I need you!' _"Why?"

"Well, I've got two tickets to a Deadly Whispers concert and was wondering if you wanted to go."

I stood up so fast, the chains hanging loose around my pleather skirt flew up and smacked someone in the elbow. _TWO TICKETS TO A DEADLY WHISPERS CONCERT!_

"Are you shitting me!" I cried.

"Nope. Want to go with me?"

Well, that had almost made me consider _not _going. Deadly Whispers...best band ever. But with _him?_ Someone I loathe and detest with every power in me?

So I had no clue how those feelings formed a 'Sure, I'll go with you.'

I disgust myself.

Of course, I didn't realize what would happen _after _the concert. Which, by the way, was friggin' kick ass. How he got fifth row, center seats to a sold-out show, I'll never know. But after it, he started hanging around me like we were best buddies or something. I'd punched him in the nose on more than one occasion, but he still continued to stick to me like String Shot.

"I think it's cute," Donna had said one day after I was complaining about him. "New guy hangs with first cool girl he sees, and gets a little crush on her! Aww."

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. "He doesn't have a crush on me, he's just being annoying. His life's mission is to piss me off. He gave me that ticket to have an excuse for me to owe him a favor sometime."

"Yeah, and that favor is for you to go out with him." Donna made kissy noises. This, of course, resulted in a bloody, bruising chick fight that made me regret convincing her to file her nails into really sharp points.

But she was right. He kept harping and harping and asking me to go to places with him, and eventually I succumbed because I was just so damn tired of fighting.

And now, we're the school's Freak Couple.

Lovely.

Not.

_**K:FT**_

"So what are you doing this afternoon?" Stacie asked as everybody filed out of the school. Chase was walking somewhat near us, not wanting to live with the same that I, of all people, was talking to a cheerleader. Well excuuuuuuuse me if she's interesting to talk to...and smart...and pretty...

"Uh...probably just listening to my loser brother and his band," I replied. "I have nothing better to do."

"Like homework?"

"Are you crazy?" I sniggered. "You're out of your mind."

"Was I ever it?"

I had to laugh. This is what I liked about Stacie; she wasn't your typical stereotypical cheerleading bimbo once you got to know her. She actually had a sense of humor and cared about more than Maybe-Line's newest eyeshadow shade. But she _does _love cheering. She keeps trying to convince me to come to one of the games sometime, but she hasn't convinced me yet, and never will.

"So do you think you can meet me...say, in front of the Pokemon Center tonight?" she suddenly asked.

I blinked. "Uhh...why?"

She winked. "Surprise."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, whatever, Miss Cheer. Yeah, sure. I'll split after Josh makes his nightly baby Growlithe phone call to me."

She shrugged good-naturedly, but seemed a little defeated. I think she was secretly mad at me for putting up with Josh, even though I was constantly pissed off at him. Truth was, there _was _a reason I didn't dump his sorry ass a week after we started going out.

Or rather..._he_ had a reason.

"So yeah, I'll meet you tonight," I said.

"I'll be looking forward to it," she smiled, and went to her bright red convertible to drive to New Bark Town. There was some after-school away game or something. Like I pay attention.

I watched Stacie drive away, and then searched for Chase. He was walking home with Andrew, talking about songs or something of the sort. I _chased_ after them...haha...bad pun, sorry...and poked Chase in the arm.

"So what are you going to torture the town with today?" I wanted to know. "I need to know how heavy-duty my earmuffs have to be."

"Kalista, your brother and I and the rest of the band are making great progress!" Andrew defended. "Just the other day, Kyle learned how to actually catch his drumsticks. He always dropped at least once before."

I rolled both eyes. "Well hot diggity damn for him. Don't you think it's pathetic that you guys don't have a singer yet—or even a _name_ for the band?"

Chase poked one of my Meowth ears. "Patience, dear sister."

"'Dear sister'? Since when?"

"Since I just said it. Listen, you don't need to get all worried about the band. I have plans..." He looked at me with a creepy look in his eyes. "Big plans."

"Should I be afraid?"

"Oh yes," Chase and Andrew replied in unison. I quirked and eyebrow at that. Chase was still his dark, slightly moody self, but he's really opened up in the past few months. Must be actually interacting with other humans besides me and the other boys.

"Huh, that's nice," I said, shaking my head as we approached the house. "Chase, tell Ma I went over to Donna's, okay? I don't think I could stand hearing you guys play again."

"Are you really meeting Growlithe Puppy?"

I glared at my twin. "No way, dude. If you haven't noticed, I try to avoid him as much as humanly possible."

"Oh yeah, meeting him every night is definitely avoiding him," he countered.

I felt my face heat up. How the hell had Chase known about that! Well, I guess I should've suspected it; we _are _twins, and we _do _share a room, so when I sneak out, I suppose he'd notice...but _still..._

It's not like I _wanted _to meet Josh every night, but it was creepy...the way he kept talking about a legend within my eyes. I wanted to punch his lights out for it, but found out an easier way to make him talk...

Yes, okay, I'll admit it: making out may not be the _only _way to get him to talk, but hey, it's been working wonders...well, it's about to, anyway. And it's not like I mind either, if I pretend he's someone else.

No, I don't know who else. It could be a Nurse Joy, for all I care. Just not him.

"Shut it," I told Chase giving him a brotherly punch in the arm and running off towards Donna's place.

Once I was there, Todd, her little brother, answered the door. He squinted and looked me up and down. "DONNY! KALISTA'S HERE!" he screeched at the top of his lungs. I twitched and pushed Todd's forehead so he stepped backwards.

"They didn't hear you in Kanto," I complained to him as Donna came up from her den, a.k.a., her drawing room. She ruffled Todd's hair as she passed him.

"What'd I tell you about calling me Donny?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Umm...I forget!"

She rolled her eyes and gestured for me to follow her back down to the den. I stared at her three-inch high spikes and now bright pink ponytail and couldn't help but be a tad jealous. And even more so when we sat on some couches in the den and I caught sight of the newest painting she was working on. It was of a Houndoom (one of her favorite subjects) howling under a full moon. It almost looked like a photograph, but I knew it wasn't since some trees or something at the bottom were still sketched in, waiting to be filled in.

I pouted as I stared at the painting. "I wish I had a talent."

Donna turned to look up at me, an eyebrow raised. "Dude, you _have _a talent."

I snorted. "Riiight...okay then, what is it?"

She threw a dead pen at me. "If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you, biatch."

I _knew _I was going to regret that chick fight with her. "Aw, c'mon buddy, tell me."

"No." She took out a bunch of brushes and resumed at her seat in front of the easel, instantly getting lost in her own little world.

"Screw you."

"I thought that was Puppy Growlithe's job."

My jaw fell open. "Aw, dude! _NO WAY! _Ugh, shit, dude, how could you even _think _that!" I pretended to barf.

She rolled her eyes. "I was _kidding. _Gawd."

I resumed my previous position of pouting. "I knew that."

"Sure you did."

I paused. "Is my talent making friends with incredibly obnoxious people?"

Donna shrugged, mixing two greens together to get the right shade for the trees, I guess. "It might be. You _have _been hanging out with that cheerleader a lot lately."

"Hey, watch it," I snapped. "Don't you be saying anything bad about her. She's a—"

" 'Nice girl'?" Donna filled in, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

My shoulders slumped. "Well...yeah. But she's...I don't know. She's not like the other cheerleaders in the school. Stacie actually seems to care about what I think."

"_I _care about what you think."

"Yeah, I know, but..." I trailed off. I couldn't explain to Donna how I felt while I was around Stacie. I mean, with Donna, I felt kind of like I couldn't truly be myself. I always felt stupid whenever I said something random around her, and she made a face or whatever. Don't get me wrong, Donna _is _my soul sister and all, but I can totally be myself with Stacie, as different as we are.

"Whatever." Donna finished, stabbing at the canvas with her paintbrush. "So what's up with the band? Have they actually found a singer yet?"

"How can they find a singer when they don't even have a name?" I snorted, falling back so I could lay down. How many times had Donna and I chatted this way? "It's bad enough just listening to them play, never mind when they actually get a singer."

Donna looked over at me and raised an eyebrow. "Depends on who the singer is, though."

"True. But honestly, they're such a weird group of guys. I don't know how Chase puts up with them."

"Really now?"

"Yeah. Like, Andrew is just a sort of shadowy person. It's probably good he plays the bass, since no one ever pays attention to the bass player...the only person he ever really talks to is Chase."

"Probably because Chase was the first dude to talk to him when he was new."

I blinked. "Never thought of that. But anyway, Andrew's better than Kyle and Kevin. Those two never shut up." Kyle was the drummer and Kevin played the keyboard, the two were brothers with Kevin being older by three years, making him the oldest member of the band at seventeen. And it was true: they _never shut up! _No wonder the band got together five freaking times a week: half of the time Kyle and Kevin were just talking to the other two, telling one of their outrageous stories. Sometimes I would sit in the garage and listen, wondering how the two came up with that stuff. I mean, really: how many times can a Primeape steal a guy's hat?

Donna gave a small smile. "Kyle's hot."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Umm...not really."

"He's a drummer, and that automatically makes him hot. And look who's talking, Miss I'm-One-Half-Of-The-School's-Freak-Couple."

I choked on my own spit. How attractive. Before I could totally defend myself on the whole Josh thing, I sat up and said, "Wait a second, don't people usually go for the guitar players? Dude."

"I've known Chase too long to fall for him," Donna replied, all of a sudden looking extremely interested in her painting and adverting her eyes from me. My own suddenly grew wide.

"DUDE!" I cried, standing up in shock. "No. Way."

"Shit, you _have _been hanging out with that cheerleader too much. You're starting to sound like her." She still wouldn't look up at me.

I glanced up at a wall clock. "I gotta go. Don't worry, I won't tell."

"I know."

"Peace out."

Donna finally looked up, the spikes on her head suddenly looking very heavy. "Dude...that's _so _last semester."

"Since when am I hip?"

"True. Now run! Go to your Puppy Growlithe!"

I didn't dignify her with an answer as I hightailed it outta there.

_**K:FT **_

I didn't run to Josh, as Donna had been so quick to assume, but instead went towards the Pokemon Center as Stacie had instructed me to. I could very faintly hear the band playing some sort of original tune and wondered if they would actually get any lyrics to their stuff.

I leaned against the walls of the Center, suddenly feeling cold in my turtleneck tank top with the fishnet sleeves, pleather skirt, black ribbed tights, and boots. I wished I had brought my jacket with me, but I didn't want to risk running home to get it and missing Stacie—though I had a feeling she'd probably wait for me.

But still. Ya know?

I stood there for a few more minutes, illuminated under all of the Center's bright lights, until she suddenly appeared, not in her cheering uniform, but a fluffy pink sweater, perfectly fitting blue jeans that flared, and simple white tennis shoes. Gawd. She really knows how to put on the pink.

"Hey," she grinned as she saw me, and I couldn't help giving a small smile back. "C'mon. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" I started following her fast walk.

She gave me a secretive smile. "You'll see."

I rolled my eyes, but I was behind her, so she didn't notice. She probably knew that I was rolling them, though, because her shoulders suddenly shook like she was trying not to laugh. Har-har.

"Did you tell Josh you were meeting me instead of him tonight?" she asked.

I blinked, totally not expecting the question. "Errr...well, I said that I was going to wait for his call and _then _leave, but I ended up going over to Donna's instead and leaving to the Center from there...so he's probably all pissed off that he didn't talk to me or whatever."

"Or heartbroken."

I laughed. "I doubt that. Like I keep telling everyone, his one mission in life is to piss me off."

Stacie turned around and smirked at me. "You just keep telling yourself that, little missy. You just keep telling yourself that."

I didn't have a reply to that, so I just kept following her in silence. We were going off the main road now, and to the outskirts of the city where mostly traveling trainers go through. This was odd. Did Stacie want to show me a Pokemon or something?

"Where are we going?" I asked nervously as something brushed against my arm. I jumped, thinking it was a creepy, crawling Bug Pokemon, but it turned out to just be a leaf.

"Almost there," she replied. "What, afraid of the dark?"

"Not the dark...it's the Bug Pokemon that come out _in _the dark..."

She laughed. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Yeah, until they all use Stun Spore on me because they think I'm some sort of giant killer Meowth."

"I doubt that'll happen. And anyway, it's your own fault for having those ears, isn't it?"

"...Shut up."

I could practically hear her smile. "Why _do _you wear those things, by the way?"

I sighed. "It's a long story."

"We have all night. Look."

I looked towards where she was pointing. Behind some tallish weeds and droopy trees, there was what looked like a perfectly kept little field, though no person had probably stepped foot in it in ages since it was surrounded by those weeds, and who wants to walk through weeds? Even in the dark, I could tell the grass was soft and bouncy, and the moonlight seemed to hit on it perfectly, making it look like something from a dream. Or a low-budget movie.

"Come on." She grabbed my hand and started trudging through the weeds.

Okay, so apparently Stacie likes to walk through weeds.

"Eeech...how do you know we're not going to get attacked by something?" I muttered.

"You don't know."

I blinked. "Huh?"

She looked back at me, those big blue eyes all wide. "How do you know when anything's going to happen? I mean, you didn't even know I was taking you here tonight, did you?"

I had too much dignity to give her an answer to that.

She smiled and walked out of the weeds and into the field, plopping herself down and then laying back. I just stood there, kind of dumbfounded. What the hell was she doing?

She patted the spot next to her. "Come here."

I blinked and shrugged, making my way over to her and doing the same plop-and-lay-back method. I put my hands behind my head, stared up, and gasped.

Staring down at us were dozens upon dozens of stars, some brighter than others, all twinkling down as if they were putting on a show just for us. I could actually make out a few constellations I always hear so much about, but never bother to look for. In the middle of it all was a half moon, the afterglow around it giving the sky an even more magical feel.

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Stacie sighed. "I come here practically every night."

I blinked, dumbfounded. "You do?"

"Yeah. It's nice to get away from life, isn't it?"

For once in my life, I was speechless. I mean, she may be smarter and less airheaded than the average cheerleader at my school, but for her to be _here _and to be doing something like _this _was just...unreal.

After a few minutes of blissful silence, I cleared my throat, feeling a little awkward, as if I was disturbing something. "How'd you find this place?"

She laughed. "It's kind of funny, actually...my brother—you don't know him, he's in Kanto collecting gym badges—had just gotten his Mudkip, and it was going absolutely insane. It used Mud Slap on my brother and he was complaining, so being the good big sister I am, I ran out after it and...well, it led me here."

I shrugged. "Go Mudkip?"

She smiled a bit. "But see, the crazy thing was, once it reached this place, it completely calmed down. It was as if this tiny little field had some sort of power to help it relax. I picked up the Mudkip and got home without any other problems."

"Wow," I whispered. "That's really wacked out. Even more so than me laying here."

"Why's that?"

"Well..." I trailed off. "I guess it's because it's like when I started hanging out with you. People like me don't think. We just _do_."

"Do you really believe that?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but for once, nothing came out. I just let out a small sigh as Stacie grabbed my hand in a friendly gesture just as a shooting star came by, drowning us in light.

Kick ass.

**_K:FT_**

Indeed.

Emerald Milotic—Haha, now I am :D Hopefully you're still liking it!

Karania Avalon—Happy early Birthday!

Harunohi—Whatever a graphics tablet is –sweatdrops- Tehehe. –chews on bone-

The Almighty DB—Muhaha, we shall see, we shall see. –wink- PIE! –glomps-

Robin Ryan—Ack, missed an update for your birthday...-tear- Ah, well. Hahaha, everyone seems to get the same impression about Josh. This should be fun...

ZeroChan—Coincidence? Naaah, it's all carefully planned ;D And I darn well KNOW it's positive! YAY! –dances-

Hakura0—Okeydokey. It feels like it's moving slowly to me since it's taking me forever to write it...-.-

Rose—MUHAHAHA! Predicaments are fun. ;D

Adriel...MONKEY! Tehehe.

I really hate this new keyboard.

But I LOOOVE you guys! –glomps- And reviews, of course. We all know reviews are awesome, so you, of course, much leave one...or feel the wrath of...er...something bad!


	7. Author's Note

Err...hey. –cough-

Well, well, well...if I even have any readers left out there, as you guys can probably see, it's been almost a year since I've updated _Kalista. _Oh what an interesting year it's been...ugh...

To make a long story short, I lost my love, horse, and job all within the span of six months. At some point, I actually had time to work on chapter six of this, and BOOM, the hard drive exploded. Not literally, ha, ha, but we lost everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. And did I have ANY of it saved on a disk or something? Nooooo. All I have to say is thank bob for this site, or I otherwise would've lost most of my completed fanfics.

But anyway...I've been jobless since around Christmas, I'm 18, broke, and with hardly anybody in the world. Kinda why I'm not really spending all my time writing this...most of my energy is going into finding a job, however crappy and low-paying it may be. But nobody wants to seem to hire me because this town really, really sucks, but luckily my family may be moving next year. Hopefully. Ugh.

I have every intention of completing _Kalista—_I mean, how could I not, the Tamers are all my babies, my pride and joy. I have Plans (yes PLANS, muhaha) for this story in particular, and I have no intention of leaving it unfinished. Life's just been throwing me too many curve balls lately, and if you know me at all, you know I can't catch.

But think about it: I know it says different on this dates on this site, but at the first places I posted _April_, it took me close to _two and a half YEARS _to finish that fic! And that's (c'mon, admit it) probably the worst-written one out of this series. No wait, actually, I KNOW it is.

I know it's been a long time, but I really don't want to lose anybody...you guys are the absolute greatest ever, and I know I've probably lost many readers already, but...ugh, I don't know.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I HAVE been writing...but I get all these ideas, but then halfway through it, they just kind of fizzle and I'm left with half-written material. At the moment, I have about six or seven half-written one shots sitting in My Documents, all while trying to remember what the heck went on in Chapter Six of this. –falls over-

But anyway...I guess this note is just to let you all know that I'm still out there, and that I have every intention of completing this, no matter how long it may take. So please, if you have been, keep sticking around. If you have anything to say, please either email or AIM me (I'd prefer not to get reviews on this note since it's not really part of the story, just an explanation as to why I've been gone for like a year...) at the address in my bio.

Well, I hope there's still people out there...and to the ones that are still waiting...thank you. –hugs- Chapter Six (whenever it may be done) is gonna be for you guys!

RainbowSerenity


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